Genomic landscape of the global oak phylogeny

What is it about?

Forest trees shape our environment, but their evolutionary history and taxonomy are complicated by hybridization. This gene flow between species makes it difficult to reconstruct the tree of life. We demonstrate that the oak genome -- all the genes that make oak trees what they are -- is a mosaic of alternative histories, some reflecting hybridization, some the history of oak species diversification. In spite of this, we are able to identify 4 key lineages that experienced rapid diversification and together account for about 60% of the world's oaks.

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